The generative AI revolution hasn’t been kind to Vanniall, an OnlyFans creator in New York City. She now constantly finds hyperrealistic deepfakes—AI-generated images and videos that copy everything about her—circulating online, and often isn’t able to get them removed. On top of that, Vanniall struggles to build an audience on popular social media platforms, like Instagram, without getting in trouble. “There’s always some sort of report or appeal that I'm going through with them,” she tells WIRED. Vanniall’s Instagram account, which has over 100,000 followers, is currently restricted and cannot be viewed without logging in.

So, when Vanniall was told that Meta allows its AI agent, called Muse, to engage in explicit sexting with adult users, she seems frustrated by the decision. “It's not fair that they get to pull money out of people with their sexually active AI agent, but they won't let real people, real adults, engage in any sort of sensuality or sexuality,” she says.

A private, one-to-one conversation between an adult and an individualized AI agent on a platform restricted to people 18 and over is very different from the marketing and promotion of services on a social media platform, says Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton. The Muse app, like a message thread, text the digital assistant, give it access to your personal data, like calendar and email, and have it proactively find ways to help, like canceling a workout class that overlaps with your dinner reservation. Meta’s large distribution network, through platforms like Instagram and Facebook, helped catapult the app to the top of the download charts during its first month, as millions of new users experimented with an agent for the first time.

In addition to having it organize your calendar, Meta says, it’s OK for users of the adults-only app to engage in X-rated AI conversations with Muse. A Meta spokesperson previously told WIRED the company wouldn’t “block legal adult behavior.” Meta’s Muse generates explicit text but not images or videos. While Meta takes a different approach to moderation on Instagram, other social media platforms in the United States do allow sexually explicit content. X remains one of the most popular platforms for many OnlyFans creators to draw in new subscribers and connect with fans. Many adult performers have also migrated to Bluesky after Elon Musk took over the platform formerly known as Twitter, where users can also share adult content.